The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1887-09-14
THE LITERARY CLUB.
THE FEDERAL CONSTITUTION COMPARED
WITH OTHER FREE CONSTITUTIONS,
ANCIENT AND MODERN.

Z
WITH OTHER FREE CONSTITUTIONS,
ANCIENT AND MODERN.
An Essay Read Before the Abbevilt
Literary Club by w. 4. Lee. Esq. ri
the House OF General ROnhaIn. or
Friday Evening. September =, 1857
The subject selected for this essay may moi
seem inappropriate in this Centennial gear
the adoption of the Federal Constitution. wher
elaborate preparations are being made To erle
brnte the event in that historic city where
from IlG,pendence Uuii, on the Itl OF Jnly
l776, the bold declaration OF our freedom hrs
rang out upon the air: where in the Saint
building ON the 9th of July. las. the Art!cle'
of Confederation were adopted; where. in the
same place on the l4th of May, 1877. the Con
vention, with Washington at It's head, met tt
frame Constitution; and where, ON the ~
September, the work was finished, and I'M
fundamental lu,U Of the idnd Was gicen 10 TN
World.
BLESSINGS UNDERvALCED.
To us, who inherit rs our birthright, the
blessings Of American freedom ana the prlNl'
leges of American citizenship. IL is difficult tC
realize all that those words import, in theil
depth of meaning and wide significance tt
view those blessings in the light of their PAST
history: in the fierce struggles by which they
were achieved: in the Jealous care win
which they have been l,rcservcd; and in the
influence which, for ages past, they nave cN,
erted in fixing the thoughts and feelings OF
our people: anil guarding alike our homes
and anchorins fast the habits OF our daily Ire
They are, perhaps. like the thousand and one
other blessings which surround us, whose
magnitude we overlook in the trteneSs OF
daily contact; like the mir we breathe: Inc
food we eat, and all those wonders OF science
aud art which minister to our comfort: the
press the telegraph, the locomotive, the com
pass, the steamship, the spindle, the loom,
and all the agencies OF complex ana pro-
gt,.nf .iNIl
CARLYLE's MODEL MAN-TIIE IDEAL REpUB-
Perhaps this blssful unconsciousncss OF
blessings enjoyed, is like that of Carlylcs
model man, whose bodily organization was SO
perfect, that he was not aware that ne ilad a
system; but entirely unlike that Of those
French revolutioniSts who, according tc
Burke. made .the medicine of the stale It's
daily bread" Not many fortunate men have
reached the happy state depicted by the
monwealths, the ideal OF the Greek philoso-
pher: but find alike the need of the reformer
and the physician and happy alike sha. they
be IL they pursue alike the regimen OF
health and disease, guard alike the springs
OF life. liberty and happiness, ana Eeiorm oF
renewing and inviSoratinS the old, and breath
ing into the ancient forms the spirit OF fW
and more luNnriant growth.
ANALYSIS OF THE SUBJECT.
To furnish brlet analysis OF our complex
system of government. State and Federal, and
OF the numerous safeguards which the wise
care of our ancestors has established for the
protection Of public and private liberty, as
contrasted with the governments and ins,iiu-
tionS Of the ancient republics, ana of our own
father-land may lead us to II higher apprecia-
ton of the forms Of American government
and the spirit of American liberty.
THE ORIGIN OF GOVERNMENT. OPINIONS OF
CALHOUN AND ARISTOTLE.
And first, as to the origin of government :
Aristotle and our own Calhoun alike discard
the theory Of n social compact. OF n Hobbs ana
o Locke, by which, according to the first, we
emerge from state OF uar, and according to
the other from state Of liberty ana cqhdHty,
and show that government Is Il necessary
consequence OF society. and that society Is ul-
yinely established, being necessary to mans
existence and the perfection of his faculties;
AS Calhoun remarks, government Is based
upon mans social and selfish nature. With
out the first, there would have been no socie-
ty, and without the latter. there would have
been no necessity for government
CALHoUS'S MODEL GOVERNMENT.
The only perfect government, according to
the Carolina statesman is one In which every
interest In the State is protected by veto
upon all opposing interests; concurrent, as
opposed to II numerical majority. such q
government he sought 10 find in the Federal
Constitution, with its checks and balances; a
government Of limited powers, in which state
ministration, and which in yielding TO n
"more perfect unon," had abated nothing of
their original integrity. \ government o!
granted and well defined powers strict con-
struction Of It's provisions, vas necessary to
mark clearly the boundaries of state and
Federal jurisdiction and to preserve the re-
served rights of the States from the encroach.
ments of the general government.
HAMILToN's MODEL.
Alexander Hamilton, his lllnstrions prede-
cessor, had In the Convention which adopted
the Federal Constitution, advocated a strong
government, and in his speeches before the
New York Convention, and in his articles in
those tho evils of the old Confederation, Which
resulted from the lack of n strong central
power, clothed with sufficient authority to
enforce It's commands, and make itself re-
spected at home and abroad, Hence the as
amples OF the Greek republics and the States
under the articles of confederation constantly
before them, and the abiding fear OF diSinte-
grafton, urged a liberal construction OF the
powers granted. for the purpose of increasing
the authority Of the general government. Ham
ilton himself in one of his speeches before the
New York Convention, struck the key note OF
this liberal and centraliznC construct ion in
the following words: "After all our doubts.
our speculations on the subject OF government.
we must return at last, 10 this important
truth that when we have founded q constitu-
tion on free principles. when we have given a
proper balance to the different branches Of ad-
ministration, and fixed representation ON
pure and equal principles, we may with safety
y
the most competent manner the purposes OF
government. The great dcside7dta are q free
representation and mutual checks. When
these are obtained, all our apprehenSions OF
the extent OF powers are unjust and imagl-
nary
WHICH THE TRUE PROPHET AND WISER
STATESMAN.
Time and the stern 'logic of events" have
shown which was the true prophet, the Caro-
lima or the New York statesman; what
dangers were most to be feared, the reserved
powers OF the States or the controlling, cen.
The problem. indeed, has been worked out
upon widor field than either statesman con
tempated. New territory, the fruit OF pur-
chase and the fruit of conquest, has extended
our magnificent domain from the Atlantic to
the Pacific, and from the lakes to the Calf,
bringing In new factors 10 complex and con.
found, and new ideas to confuse the lawgivcr
and the statesman; territorial governments
calling for establishment and regulation, new
States knocking at the door of the Union for
admission: and in the meantime old issues
tanning into Il fame the fires of fratricidal
war in which rcd-handed riot rode rampant
over constitutional right: followed by those
dark days of Reconstruction, when freedom
seemed to be extinct and the heritage of our
fathers forever lost. But in this we have but
shared the fate OF our English ancestors, ana
trust that like them, we have emerged rom
trial with principles tested as by fire, ana all
the safeguards of civil and constitutional lib
erty intact.
THE CONSTITUTION OF TIIR ORIGINAL THIR-
TEEN NOW THE CONSTITUTION OF THIRTY
EIGHT STATES. IT'S EULoGf.
a Constitution framed for thirteen States has
been made to do duty for an empire of thirty
eight States and sixty millions or people
with its complex government. State and Fed
eral. And Though some OF you may thlnK
that the Constitution as Interpreted by ou'
fathers has been shorn of some OF its fair pro-
portions, yet we may all say OF it with inr
greater truth than Fox said OF the old French
constitution OF 1889, that 1t Is "thc most SIN,